Search on for Def Col robbery booty

They may have nabbed the 'mastermind' of the brazen, multi-crore daylight heist, but the police are more than a bridge too far from getting their hands on what remains of the booty.

Almost a week after the armed hold-up in south Delhi's Defence Colony, the police have only been able to recover Rs 2.39 crore of the total Rs 5.25 crore robbed by five armed men last Friday and have been able to arrest only two men for their direct involvement in the heist.

The remaining part, the police suspect, is with three men who are still on the run.

“There are three more men directly involved in the incident who are yet to be arrested. Logically, the rest of the robbed amount is in their custody. There is also a possibility that the persons already arrested are hiding the value of the exact amount that formed their share — however it is a remote one,” said an officer investigating the robbery case.

Sources said the absconding trio have ‘at least one third of the robbed amount’ between them. The rest, police have reason to believe, seems to have already been exhausted by them by way of travelling expenses and frequently changing accommodation to avoid detection.

“Since the amount is too large to travel with conveniently, we have reason to believe that a major chunk of their share of the loot might be stashed at their distant relatives' homes or other places like in the case of Tek Chand,” the officer said.

Tek Chand, 50, arrested from Haryana's Palwal and Krishan Kumar, 39, from Gurgaon, are relatives of the five men involved in the heist.

They were nabbed for aiding and abetting the operation.

Mukesh Saini, 31 and Umesh, 39, both of whom were neighbours at a Taimur Nagar locality before becoming friends and later partners-in-crime, were nabbed for providing logistical support.

Hari Kishan Sharma, a taxi driver, and his wife Rashmi, were arrested from Banda in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. “Raids in at least three states are currently under way,” the officer added.